IN
THE CHURCH, BUT GOING TO HELL

John
Bunyan said, “For
some the entrance to hell is from the portals of heaven”. His
words could not more accurately depict the sad plight of many who
believe they are Christians! They
are at the very gates of heaven as it were, but will never enter
because they are under a terrible delusion.The
church is filled with people who are
not really saved, but think they are. They
have been lulled into
a false sense of security about
their future state. The
church I speak of is that entire body which holds to the basic tenets
of the Christian faith, as set out in the Nicene Creed, not the
numerous pseudo-Christian groups or cults masquerading under the
Christian umbrella. Those I speak of fall into two distinct groups.

The
first group comprises those who lay claim to Christianity by natural
descent. Their parents or grandparents were Christians and so they
are naturally Christians too! It’s as though Christianity, once
received, can be passed on genetically. In this they are not unlike
the Pharisees who claimed salvation by direct physical descent from
Abraham. Like the Pharisees, they remain blissfully ignorant that God
has no grandchildren! But that’s only the beginning of
their delusion. They legitimise their Christianity by subscribing to
a religious system. This system lays claim to infallibility whilst it
promulgates the traditions of men, and teachings contrary to
scripture. Sadly, this group forms the major percentage of
‘Christians’ in the world. By their own undertaking they
have submitted to the lie that they are either saved or condemned in
accordance with the rules of the religious institution they belong
to! To be ‘born-again’, which is the absolute requirement
for anyone to enter into the kingdom of heaven, is something
alien to them. The term ‘born again’, which in biblical
language refers to an unnatural birth, a birth by the Spirit
of God, without the machinations of men, is something they are
uncomfortable with. These diehards faithfully hold to the error that
salvation is through the mediation of duly appointed priests, and
made more certain by sacramentalism and sombre ritualism. Since they
will not surrender to the supremacy of scripture over the teachings
of men, they remain just like the Pharisees whom Paul commented about
when he said: “But their minds were made dull, for to this day
the same veil remains when the old Covenant is read. It has not been
removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day
when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone
turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away” (2 Cor.3:14, 15).
And so they continue blindly in their church attendance, religious
systems, sacrifices, and dead works, fully convinced that they are
justified through them, despite access to the truth in the written
word of God. Such is the power of the lie into which they have been
indoctrinated! The enemy has made it difficult for the unsaved
churchgoer to receive the truth. As scripture says, “The god of
this age (Satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they
cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2
Cor.4:4 - word in brackets added by me).

Then
there is another group of professing ‘Christians’. Unlike
the first, these have been ‘converted’. Nevertheless, the
whole process was painless. This lot received a simple formula –
just invite Jesus into your heart and say the ‘sinner’s
prayer’ and presto! You’re in the kingdom. No doubt they
were told of Gods’ love, but never of their total depravity; of
God’s desire that none should perish, but not about God’s
wrath against sin; of eternal life in heaven for the righteous but
not of eternal damnation in hell for the wicked. The word they heard
was full of promise, but failed to arouse even the slightest
uneasiness about their utter filthiness in the presence of a Holy and
Righteous God. They were never really convicted of sin. Neither did
they see their disastrous condition and their desperate need to be
delivered from it. Therefore accepting Christ was just a good and
beneficial thing for them to do – the acquisition of a
‘passport’ that would come in handy at the right time.
Their decision to
accept Christ never
involvedrenouncing their sinful
lifestyles.
Neither did they hear that ‘giving their lives to Christ’
involved making an immediatechoice between obedience and
disobedience to God’s word. So,
they eagerly subscribed to what I call ‘easy Christianity’.
This group lives happily in the delusion that church membership and
rigorous involvement in religious activities is all the assurance
they need of their true Christianity. Becoming a disciple of Christ,
which is at the very heart of one’s conversion to Christ, was
never on their agenda and never will be if they can help it. They
view discipleship as nothing more than an option, as something over
and above the call to being a Christian. They were never truly born
again in the first place; even though they could probably name the
day, place, and the very minute, they were ‘converted’.
Therefore, it is not surprising that they continually defend their
sinful lifestyles, twisting God’s word as they see fit to suit
their lustful habits. Continual self-examination and confession of
sin – the distinguishing characteristic of the regenerated
person - are an unwarranted inconvenience to them. To use a worldly
analogy, they are like those who rush to scoop up a good shopping
bargain when they see one. It is as though they saw a sign saying
‘this way to heaven – in one easy installment’ and
they rushed headlong towards it for fear of missing out. They were
enticed by ‘easy believism’. They will die to satisfy
their needs. In stark contrast, the true Christian is called to a
different type of dying – one of self-denial! In fact, we
cannot come to Christ without a willingness to die to self.
As the saying goes, ’fools rush in where angels fear to tread’.
What is heartrending about this group is that they came through
deceptive ‘come to Christ’ invitations! The invitation to
accept salvation in Christ was stripped of all the ‘hard
sayings’. They were presented with an easy and comfortable
Christianity and a different Jesus to the Jesus of the bible. The
invitation they received was to come ‘just as they are’
(which is scripturally true). But that they did not come through a conviction of sin
and true repentance is
evident from their resolute decision to live in sin. There is no
doubt that there was some sort of blanket repentance - a formula - a
standard ‘sinner’s prayer’ that was involved in the
call to Christianity. However, it was a mere formality. It was
not a point of decision, a point of making hard choices! Yet biblical
repentance involves a mental affirmation and heart acknowledgment of
sin, together with a deliberate choosing to turn around, with God’s
help! Who would refuse the offer of such an ‘easy
gospel’? Therefore, they clamber eagerly onto the Jesus
bandwagon. Once on it they devote themselves to attracting the
most attention. They get involved up to the hilt in church
activities, in leadership, and on church boards and committees, in
seminars and conferences, on television shows and the like. Many
build impressive portfolios and public profiles. Nevertheless,
they are still deceived and lost, the blind leading the blind! For
all that frenzied activity ‘in the name of Jesus’, they
might very well hear from his lips on that day,” Depart from
me. I never knew you”. So these hapless ‘converts’,
rushing madly through what Jesus described as the ‘broad gate’
(what I call ‘the easy Christianity gate’) add to the
swelling throng of deceived churchgoers. Jesus said quite clearly
that this ‘broad’ gate leads to destruction
and that many would enter through it! In contrast, only a few would
find the narrow gate, which is the only means of entry into the
kingdom! Now, that is something to think about seriously.

My
allegation that the church is full of unsaved people raises three
important questions. Firstly, is it true? Secondly, does it call for
self-examination of our personal position? Thirdly, what, if
anything, can we do about the situation? Let me answer each briefly.

The
first question: Is it true? - The
fact of such an admixture of saved and unsaved, or if you like of
believers and professors, is abundantly recognized in both the Old
and the New Testaments. In the OT for example, when the Israelites
left Egypt, a group of non- Israelites mixed with them and were the
source of recurring complaints and trouble. The reader can follow
this in Exodus and Numbers. It is impossible in this brief writing,
to refer to all the passages in scripture that discriminate true
believers from the mass of mere formalists, hypocrites and legalists.
However, a few examples from the NT would serve to make the point. We
know from Matthews’ gospel that Jesus laid down very stringent
requirements for entry into the kingdom of heaven, giving examples of
who may enter into it. He spoke about the sower and the seed, clearly
depicting four different responses to the preaching of the gospel. In
this illustration, there was nothing wrong with the sower or with the
seed, but with the ground on which it fell. In another parable, he
likened the kingdom of heaven to a dragnet, which pulls in every type
of person, both good and wicked. Jesus said that no separation of the
two takes place until the end of the age when the angels will
separate out the wicked for destruction. Likewise, this mixture in
the church will prevail to the very end, at which time the angels
will separate the true believers from the rest. In his parable about
the wise and foolish virgins, Jesus portrays the latter as having a
form of godliness, but really lacking in substance. They had the
lamps, but the lamps were not filled with oil and therefore useless.
To put it another way, they had an outward show of salvation, but it
was never really in their hearts. The ‘Churchiness’ that
is prevalent today describes this condition accurately. Note what
Jesus said to the foolish virgins:” Assuredly, I say to you, I
do not know you”. That is strong language and he used it often.
We have only to search the scriptures diligently to discover that
Jesus never gave even the slightest hint
that entry into the kingdom would be easy. In fact, he quite
deliberately and repeatedly asserted that it would be difficult
to enter the kingdom of heaven. He also made no bones about
discipleship, declaring, “He who does not take up his cross and
follow me cannot
be my disciple”. Have we seriously considered the implications
of this? Bear in mind that this requirement has nothing
whatsoever to do with legalism, but everything to do with
wholehearted obedience!

The
apostle Paul also recognized the mixture of believers and unbelievers
in the one institution. In chapter 10 of Romans, speaking about the
Jews, Paul says:” Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer
to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness
that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For
they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to
establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the
righteousness of God”. Paul clearly portrays Israel’s
rejection of the Messiah (in keeping with OT prophecies). Yet to this
day Jews continue to believe they are saved. Of course, we know that
God has not entirely cast away his people ‘whom he foreknew’
(see Rom 11:2). He has reserved for himself a remnant out of the
great multitude who parade themselves as ‘true Israelites’.
Nevertheless, the point is that we see a mixture of saved and unsaved
people belonging to the congregation of Israel. In other words,
within ‘Israel’ are many that are not the true Israel.
The same principle applies to the church. Speaking to the gentiles in
Corinth, Paul makes this clear about certain men in the church. He
says, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen,
masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself
masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising then, if his
servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be
what their actions deserve” (2 Cor. 11:13-15). Writing to the
Galatians, he says: “This matter arose because some false
brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in
Christ Jesus and to make us slaves” (Gal 2:4). Notice he calls
them ‘brothers’ because that is what these pretenders
purported to be. The apostle Peter warns “But there were also
false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers
among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even
denying the sovereign Lord who bought them- bringing swift
destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and
will bring the way of truth into disrepute” (2Pe. 2: 1, 2).
Therefore, not all who are in the church belong to the true church -
that is, are truly born-again.

The
second question: Does it call for self-examination of our personal
positions? - Every single person
falls into one of only two categories, either ‘saved’ or
‘not saved’. There is no intermediate position. There is
no such thing as a third category of ‘fence sitters’ who
have the option of deciding either way. The choice could not be
simpler or clearer. Either you are in or out; it is black or white,
this side or the other side, heaven or hell. Therefore, if you
console yourself that you are OK whilst considering which choice to
make, let me assure you that you are, without doubt, unsaved right
now! On the other hand, you might be sincere but deceived, like those
in the two groups of unsaved people in the church whom I referred to
at the beginning. If so, reading this article may well be your god
given opportunity to come into the truth and receive salvation.
Do not put it off. Your eternity rests on it. Perhaps you have
friends or family from either or both these groups and you are
anxious for them. The apostle Paul too agonized over his brother
Israelites. Is there anything you can do? Yes! Introduce them
to the true gospel message of salvation, encapsulated beautifully in
the catch cry of the Reformers - By Christ alone; By
Faith alone; By Scripture alone!

The
third question: What can we do about the situation? -
Those that preach and teach have a great responsibility. They will be
judged more sternly than others will, because they purportedly
declare God’s word. Therefore, they must not contaminate the
invitation to ‘come as you are’ by the implication ‘no
change is required’. To do so is to pervert the truth of
the gospel message and make a mockery of the death of God’s
Son. Those who seek to swell the numbers of their congregations would
do well to establish as their priority the salvation of souls, not
the filling of pews or the raising of revenues for their ministries.
This means genuine conversions. It is nothing short of blasphemy to
encourage a prospective believer to feel comfortable about sin
instead of uncomfortable. Let us not forget that what Jesus had to
say about those who would lead children into sin applies also to
those who are babes in the faith. What does Christ have in common
with Belial? Fear the Lord, because we will all give account.
Woe to those who preach a watered down gospel!